Vtech MobiGo vs Leapster Explorer vs Fisher Price IXL

We thought these systems would be great for our three year old last year, but I was highly unimpressed with these toys and my son wouldn't even bother with them. The Nintendo DS or even the DS XL seem to be much easier for little hands to navigate. He could figure them out easily, and got very frustrated with the others because they do not work as smoothly. They have some wonderful preschool games such as Backyardigans and even a "girls room" and "boys room" game where there are multiple games and drawing pads. I hope this helps.

we bought both kiddos the leapster explorers for xmas last year.. they were awesome! now fast forward 8 months and BOTh systems have faulty sound, or the sound doesnt work at all... if it was 1 system i would think ok it was dropped too many times, but both systems?!? it was expensive for both!! but the games are interchangeable with the leap pad so that might be what we buy for this xmas with an extended warrenty!!!

leapfrog just came out with a "leap pad" which looks really cool. We got the fisher price IXL and it was cool for a bit, but after a few weeks, it never got used again. You have to buy so many "books" (at 25 bucks a pop) to load on to it to even give it any variety, and even then I would say it wasnt too great.
We are looking into the leap pad now, but waiting to see the reviews on amazon and toysrus before we buy for sure. It looks really cool on their website tho!

I would get her the iPod, more expensive up front, but tons of games/apps to choose from, and all those games for these devices are around $20 bucks each and kids get bored with them so it ends up being more expensive. JMO We ended with an IPad for my 4 year old, he can't have it like his other toys, but he gets it for a certain amount of time and we put it up for save keeping. My hubby and I use it too of course.

Don't know about the Fischer Price model but we have the Vtech MobiGo and it's awesome. My nieces have the Leapster Explorer and her parents and I agree that the Vtech system is better...better graphics, easier to manipulate, etc. The only issue is that the Leapster has a better selection of games. I sometimes struggle to find another good game to get for my son. Many of the games are 5+. They do have games for under 5 but not as many as the Leapster.

My sister also liked the VTech over the Leapster. She said the VTech was easier to use.

My DD got a Leapster Explorer for Christmas last year (2 months before she turned 3) and has loved it and done well with it from the beginning. She started with the games that were on it and some free downloads that I found. She got the Disney Princess game for Christmas too and then Pet Pals and and Penguins of Madagascar for her bday. The hardest part for her was learning to trace the letters and she would get frustrated at first. But now she is doing great with it and can write a lot of her letters on her own including her name. The Penguins game is too hard right now though. We didn't buy that one for her. It's a lot more like a video game for some of it and she isn't quite ready for it. I recommend it!!